COACHMEN 17 BH ?

docnascar wrote:
Are you considering towing this with your 2008 KIA Sedona? Thats likely too much trailer for your mini-van after you add cargo, passengers, propane, battery, etc...

Sure.....




Too bad there are lots of people pulling heavy with Mini-Vans. Few little mods and they work great!

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Our first TT was a 2010 Catalina 20RD. After doing a lot of cabinetry and other mods, I was shocked by what I thought was poor quality workmanship. After reading RV forums a lot for a number of years and after owning another brand, I now know that the overall quality of the Coachmen TT was probably above average.

Three negative things I found are that the construction of cabinets, trim, dinette seating, bed frame, etc. was rather wonky and not very plumb, level, square or straight but this is common in the TT industry. The 2nd was that I didn't think the insulation in the ceiling was all that good because there were numerous voids and the insulation was compressed all over causing the overall R value to drop, but again, this is common in the industry too.

The worst thing that was wrong was the brakes. It took the dealer just over a year to fix them and they had what appears to have been grease in them along with warped drums and a broken spring. They kept telling us it was the brake controller. This problem can happen on any brand though.

The cabinets are put together using pocket screws in the frames of cabinets which is a plus. Many manufacturers just staple everything together. The underbelly is not enclosed/heated and the floor is COLD in cold weather.

The dealer was THE worst thing about the Catalina. Very poor service. Besides not dealing with the brakes PDQ as they should have, they were extremely slow in fixing things and it would sit on their lot for weeks. It took 3 trips into them to just to fix a faulty bathroom door.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy one but I would definitely look into the quality of the dealer. I highly recommend going to an RV show and spending lots of time looking carefully at the different makes and models. Look thoroughly inside them (including inside cabinets at construction) and underneath them. Sit down in them and picture yourself cooking, eating, watching TV, etc. Sometimes things can be overlooked and you don't discover things until you start camping in it. Poor locations for TVs are common for ex. Inadequate or poorly laid out storage is another.

Forget about getting a customized order. The plants have routines for doing things and do not like changes. We had some custom changes on our KZ TT, but had to pay a "babysitting" fee of a couple thousand $$ in order to get the foreman and workers to stop in the build process and do something that disrupts their routine. It was highly unusual for them and I don't think they'd do it again.

If you are handy, do modifications yourself. You'll probably end up with something better doing it yourself anyway.

No his van I will be fine, I know because mine is towing more trailer.. You WILL need a weight distribution hitch, and 5th gear on the trans is unusable so your looking at around 10mpg, but it will do it and do it safely. I do want to add a good trans cooler to mine, but that's about it.

I have a simular unit, and my main issue was the 8,000 btu AC unit was way under powered to cool the unit. I ended up putting in a 12,000btu unit and it is much better but I had to "customize" my brand new unit which did not make me happy...at all.

Are you considering towing this with your 2008 KIA Sedona? Thats likely too much trailer for your mini-van after you add cargo, passengers, propane, battery, etc...

Agree that the things you'd like added or changed are very unlikely. These are made on an assembly line and there is no provision for special orders other than what the manufacturer may list as "options".

I believe the other manufacturer you are looking for is Viking.

We purchased a 2011 Catalina 22FB in June and are really pleased with the quality. No problems at all. Now looking for something a little bigger as we will be starting to camp seasonal at a lake resort in April.

Apex has possibilities, however, I was thinking this unit was also made by another brand name, same manugacturer? Anyone know?

Check out: Apex Ultra-Lite 185BH. This is the same floorplan, also made by Coachmen, but better quality, IMO.

Coachmen RV

It's highly unlikely that you'll be able to get them to modify the plan as you suggest. You may be able to get someone to do it aftermarket.